See that's the funny thing about sports. Michael Jordan can give the worst acceptance speech in Hall of Fame history and really not change your opinion of him. What he said was distasteful, mean, and just plain wrong. But it was ok, because he earned it. That's the thing about America, we will respect the people that earn what they get. Kobe came into the league and people really disliked him. Not because of his skills but because he was elevated to a spot he hadn't earned. The same can be said about Lebron James. In terms of ego's Lebron doesn't even register to MJ's, but he hasn't earned the right to be arrogant and therefore people dislike him.
We don't like to be force fed stars and mythical championship teams. Tebow has been forced fed to us. No 3rd string quarterback in history has been given the recognition that Tebow has received. Nobody cares he is Christian, a lot of people are. Like in the case of Kobe, and Lebron the hype is always going to put an athlete in a bad spot. What makes this thing with Tebow so polarizing is that his message is bigger than his accomplishments. Give me something on the field and I could care less if you are giving a sermon at the Superbowl.
Athletic success can overshadow bad marriages, bad conduct, DUI's, dogfighting, performance enhancers, and a Ray Lewis murder trial. In the end that's what we care about. Tebow can have both the football glory and his message, but he can't just use the NFL shield as a pulpit. In the end his only relevance is football. Wayne Simien was a great college player that became a minister. Coffee was a backup running back in San Fran that found religion. My point being people don't have issues with Tebow's message. Tebow can have his message with or without football, but until he has success on the field the only thing that can be mentioned is how good of a kid he is. That's the issue, any article that has been written in two years cannot account for what we care about.
There is no reason that I should know Tim Tebow's life story. I don't know who in the hell Montana, Brady, Marino, Unitas, Rodgers, or Aikman's parents are. These guys are legends that been on the big stage. I don't know their charity work, nor their religion. Frankly the media doesn't care nor do I. They don't care because their careers actually had substance. The media could actually cover what we care about with them, which is football.
Tim Tebow has been in the headlines for years. He earned it, because he was one hell of a player in college. The problem is, the coverage doesn't fade. For two years he has done nothing on the field yet continues to be hyped. His hype is for who he is and not what he is as a Quarterback. That's the distinction. Until we talk about actual football, talking about his religion will strike a nerve even for people that don't have a problem with it. The simple fact is we don't tune into sports for religion or 9/11 conspiracies.
We follow football for obvious reasons and that is football. It's refreshing that players have other passions, but football better be the first. Tebow could be walking old ladies across the street, but if he isn't throwing a deep fade on Sundays then that better not be a story. Football is why we watch, if we cared what Tebow's faith was we would be in church on Sundays and not Stadiums. I'm not saying that people won't stop the Tebow hate if he becomes a Super Bowl winning quarterback. I am saying the "hate" is warranted for a bible thumping 3rd string quarterback. A lot of the hate goes away when the headlines cover his football play and not his spiritual journey.
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